More links to Waumandee!

Horray!  We heard this weekend from Carol, a great granddaughter of immigrant Mathias Hesch (see masthead for who he was).  Her grandparents were Valentine and Lena Hesch, and her parents were Leonard and Caroline Hesch.  If you recall (I'm sure you do), Mathias and Agnes had 8 daughters and 2 sons--John and Valentine.  
Since Mathias and Agnes moved to Pierz in 1912 or so, their daughters and son John (Hunzi) made their lives around Pierz.  
Hunzi's older brother Val had already established himself in Waumandee, Wisconsin, so the Val & Lena branch is mostly Wisconsinites...a parallel universe that we weren't aware of.  We know from the Pierz Journal that they visited each other regularly until Mathias died in 1931, and Val in 1946.  

I think we'll have to plan another reunion, for sure. This time, maybe in Waumandee?

Leonard and Caroline on their 25th wedding anniversary in 1968.

Back row, Leonard & Caroline, Lucille & Rudy,
Edna (Weaver), Lena Hesch, Lucille and Nick Kotrodimos.
(The underlined are four of the six kids Val and Lena had).

 Isn't this just cool?  Thanks for writing, Carol!

Valentine Sendelbach & Elizabeth Hesch Wedding

A huge THANK YOU to our newest family contact--Kathleen, a descendant of the Dworschaks and Sendelbachs around Waumandee, Wisconsin.  (If you're lost, read the history below the header, above)

I adore family wedding pics.  This one is cool because Kathleen said that Val and Lizzy were especially devoted to each other, and that when she died on Valentine's Day in 1962, he couldn't go on without her.  Val died two weeks later, on March 2, 1962.

BUT, these two items (pic & clipping) were from 55 years earlier, 

in 1904, a much happier time for them...

THANKS, Kathleen!

The immigrant Mathias Hesch

A few weeks ago, I got an email from a formerly unknown relative who'd found some of his family here on HH ☺.  Turns out he's...well, lessee:

Great grandpa Paul had a bro, Mathias, from Bohemia,
who had a son, John, 
who had a son, Herbert, 
who had a son, John.  Ok?

(I'm being cryptic so names of living people won't be searchable from here.  If you're reading this, you probably already get how he fits, right?  These are the Agram township Heschs)

This week John's visiting his sibs in Phoenix, and sent us some precious photos from that side of the family.

This is Mathias Hesch and Agnes (Trachofsky) Hesch probably about 1904, 

which would have been their 25th wedding anniversary.  We have a family photo from later , probably about 1926...or 

1929, when Mathias and Agnes had been married for 50 years.  

(Wow, isn't it COOL to see photos of a great aunt and uncle that we didn't even know existed four years ago? And can you recognize cousins' faces in Mathias' face, too?)

And  this is John Hesch and Cecilia (Otremba) Hesch on their wedding day, November 11, 1913. John was the son of Mathias and Agnes.  They carried on farming in Agram township and were mentioned fairly often in the Pierz Journal back then.   

John said this photo was taken about 1962 after his grandparents were retired and spent winters in Arizona.  Yes, aren't those typical Hesch hands?  John said his grandpa was very strong.  
I hope Ceil made the point here, huh?

A couple years ago, I spoke with an old man who, as a kid on a neighboring Agram township farm, vividly remembered John's whistling tunes that carried across the field between the farms.  He said it was at least a half-mile away!

And this is their son Herbert Hesch and Elizabeth (Lynch) Hesch on their wedding day, August 5th, 1947. They were married at St Peter's Cathedral in Omaha.

THANK YOU JOHN AND SISTERS~ these are GREAT!

What did they do for fun?

Larry found this ad in the entertainment section of one of the newspapers in Winona, Mn. He wondered if Hesch-Weaver was a band, playing for a wedding dance? And, had I ever heard of Hannon's Pavilion?
But woohoo--This was Edna Hesch** and Theo Weaver's wedding dance in 1937! With a little research online, we discovered a whole LOT:
--Hannon's Pavalion was a very popular place between Arcadia and Waumandee, Wisconsin, in the 1920s and '30s. There are some 280 ads in the local Winona papers during those years! Many were for the big 4th of July celebrations, or for when the Carnival set up at the pavilion, but lots of those ads were announcing regular or wedding dances.

--Some of the wedding dances charged admission, but that helped the newlyweds because they got part of the proceeds.

--A FREE wedding dance was multi-purpose. Some people brought gifts, there were more people AT the dance, it was a good and fairly safe place to meet girls, and having a wedding dance at all prevented a Shiveree--remember those?

--The way it worked at a dance hall like Hannon's was the hall hired the band and promoted it, people came and paid admission (which paid the band), and the concession stand did big business if people had a really good time...lol

--We found an Arcadia Area History Tour brochure online, and one of the stops was at the Hannon's Pavilion site. A few pages from the brochure:

(Written by 88 year old Alice Hannon about her fond memories of the place).
This particular ad included a description of where the place was. Sounds like a lotta fun to me!

** Edna was the daughter of Mathias' son Valentine Hesch. Val stayed in Waumandee when his parents moved to Pierz, Mn in 1911. Edna's husband died in the early 40s leaving her with two sons, Roger and Francis Weaver.

HOORAY!!

I just received pictures of MATHIAS HESCH from his great grandson, Roger!



A little suspense is called for here, so I'll begin by comparing the brothers, Mathias and Paul...

This photo of Mathias (left) was taken about 1926, so he would have been 77, an age Paul never attained. Paul would have been about 50 here.

I transcribed what Roger wrote above and below the photo. I'm assuming this was their farm house near Waumandee, Wisconsin. Agnes (standing next to her dad, left) didn't move with them to Pierz, but Rose did, and she's not pictured. Rose died in Pierz in 1917 and may already have been an invalid by this time....or, maybe she took the picture.

And HERE is the much-awaited family portrait:

Roger included who each one married, just so we're clear. And, he sent along a note saying he wouldn't be able to be at the reunion because they have to be at a Hesch wedding in Arcadia that day: Valentine's great grandson, Joel. Continuing the line is a good thing, right? But I REALLY wanted to meet Roger and his wife, Mary.
Oh, and even if Roger is computer-phobic, I have to say

THANK YOU, ROGER!!!